When we originally talked about trekking in the Atlas the plan was to go for 2 or 3 days. In the end we booked in for 4 days. Only time would tell whether that was a good idea or not.

Before we even got to the mountains, Marrakech had one last curveball to throw at us - the Police. On a section of urban dual-carriageway I was clocked at 72kmh - which was fair as I was probably doing that speed. They pulled us over. I tried the "I thought this was an 80kmh zone" opening gambit - I was told in no uncertain terms it was a 60kmh zone - and asked to pay a 400 dirham fine (around 40CHF). Now I wasn't keen on paying this - so I came out with standard defence number 2 - "How do I know that 72kmh was for this car? After all there were lots of cars on the road at the time". Now they were struggling, their radar guns had the speed but no picture to show it was me. Although unhappy, he conceded - reminded me of the urban limits and waved us on.

The first night we stayed in Dar M'Zik - this is an Auberge run by one of the more senior guides - and was our introduction to 1700m no heating hotels. And the following morning was not quite as we had expected. After 10 days on sunshine we were shrouded in cloud.

Our guide Mohammed was ready and we set off - leaving the muleteer to load the mule and to catch us up later. The cloud removed any hope of us getting any good views back down the valley to Imlil and we trudged our (along with the lorries making the piste) up the hillside.

At the top of the pass we were able to stop at a small cafe and have a much needed cup of mint tea. With the mule now in tow we headed down into the next valley.

And finally the clouds began to lift and the views were quite simply spectacular. The snow covered mountains peaking through the clouds - and the villages in clear focus further down.

With the sun shining we were feeling good - but the Gite we arrived at for the night was as far from the Ritz-Carlton Singapore as you could possibly imagine. And worse was to come, the cloud came down again - and despite getting on brilliantly with Pierre - who was trekking for 7 days - and demolishing a huge plate of pasta, salad and sardines - we were not feeling great.

Mostly this was down to feeling cold - so we put on extra layers - and headed further up to visit another village. We followed the "good trekking" guide and didn't give the children pens or sweets - despite each one asking. The 2 hour hike did a good job of warming us up - until Prisca fell into the stream/river 500m from the Gite!!!

A cold night followed - but the next day - the sun was out - and not only did we begin to thaw out - but we felt pretty good. That days walking was mostly downhill - following the river down the valley - before heading back up over a lower ridge and into the Imlil valley.

It is amazing the difference the sun makes!! However today was my turn to take a dunking - with me also ending up walking across a river!!!! That nights Gite however made the previous nights look like the Ritz Carlton - this one didn't even have a sink or a shower!!!! But the food was again great - and once tucked into our sleeping bags we slept pretty well.

Day 3 dawned with more sun - and shouldn't have been our last day - but quite frankly this soft Swiss living has got to us both - and we wimped out of a third cold night - and told our guide we wanted to go back to Imlil.

We headed back up the valley - walking along some unfeasibly narrow paths - with rather alarming cambers - and very steep drops off to their side. We came through a few villages - stopping at the Mohammeds aunts for morning tea - and finally dropped back down into Imlil from the other side - and to Dar M'Zik

We ate, showered and began to feel vaguely human again. We lazed about for the afternoon - but once the sun was gone the cold was back. We fortified ourselves with the knowledge that it was our last night. Tomorrow would hopefully bring some sunshine and warmth!